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Code Red Net Zero

 The COP26 Conference is yet another opportunity for world governments to take meaningful action on global warming. 

The Covid 19 pandemic has proven what we can accomplish as a world when we work together. 

It is time to put that same energy and effort towards tackling the climate crisis. There are no more excuses. 

People can no longer say the problem is too big; if we can come up with a vaccine in record time we can certainly get to Net Zero. 

The Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) report shows that human activity is the main cause for global warming and has reached such a level that the IPCC has declared it Code Red. 

It is time that old fashioned governments predominantly conservative around the world stop playing politics and take a bipartisan approach to the problem. Conservative governments are relying to much on private individuals to fix the problem. It takes all of us. 

We need more than just the right headlines. We need policies and actions. 

Some leaders say we need technology not taxes but what they don’t take into account is how taxing the realities of climate change can be. Global warming taxes our health which in turn taxes our economy which in turn taxes everyone no matter who they are. 

We do need technology but we also need renewable energy, regenerative farming, sustainable food supplies, and a return to a slower pace of life. It is not impossible but we all must act. We can no longer ignore the Code Red that is Net Zero 2050. 



Code Red


If only disability could so easily be shed

When the world starts screaming ‘Code Red! Code Red!’

Scorched earth is a brutal tactics of war

Not something we signed up for.


Fears; of rising seas are made worse 

By the waves of the dispossessed' tears.

A disabled man's tyres melt when the rubber meets the road.

Who will be left behind when the politicians go into survival mode?


A disabled woman fights her daily battle not to overheat

So the rich man can keep eating meat.

Extreme weather be it hot or cold 

Brings pain to the vulnerable young and old.


We ignored the traffic light flashing red; now it’s time to go green.

But does anyone know what those words mean?

The inconvenient truth can no longer be shed because 

The planet is screaming ‘Code Red! Code Red!’


Chris Van Ingen | 1 November 2021


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